Sucker rod elevator



Get. 27, 1942. c. LowERY 2,300,370

SUCKER ROD ELEVATOR INVENTOR ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTQRNEY Ot. 27,1942. c. LowERY sUcKER kROD ELEvAToR F'iled July 9'. 1941 j 0 lNyENToR yLW MSL Patented Oct. 27, 1942 UNITED STAT 2,300,370. suenan non ELEvATonCharley Lowery, Oklahoma City, Okla. Application July 9, 1941, SerialNo. 401,613

10 Claims.

The invention relates to mechanism for'handling oil well sucker rods,and more particularly to mechanism commonly known in the art as atransfer elevator.

Usual oil well pump rods, or sucker rods as they are commonly called inthe eld, are provided at the ends of each section with an enlargementwhich makes possible the provision of either an externally threaded pinor an internally threaded box. In either event, the'adjacent ends of theenlargements of each rod section terminate in an exterior conicallytapered portion, and this conical portion is commonly used as a meansbeneath which to engage the section with an elevator for raising andlowering the rod section, or otherwise handling the section in the welland derrick.

The present invention consists of a tool adapted to be suspended by atraveling cable, and to be engaged beneath the above described conicalshoulder of a sucker rod section for handling the same in a wellderrick.

One object of the invention is the provision of a sucker rod elevatorwhich includes a safety mechanism positively preventing the sucker rodLfrom being inadvertently released or dropped while engaged in theelevator.

Another object is the larrangement of parts whereby the safety deviceacts, through gravitation, to normally remainY in its protective or "ilatched position.

A further object is the design of a tool of'this class which willfunction properly even though the device becomes coated with paraffin orother viscid material.

Another object is the assembly of moving parts in such manner that theymay be easily and Cil quickly removed and replaced when broken orv Yetanother object is the provision of a seat-v ing surface for the rodsection which will auto matically center the rod in the tool.

A still further object is the provision of a `tool of this class whichis so designed that it will not foul with stands of sucker rodpreviously racked vertically in the derrick.

Other objects of the invention are to accomplish; ease of operation;simplicity in design;

economical manufacturing expense; and, durabody l and the sleeve isadapted for vertical slid- Figure o is a horizontal sectional view takensubstantially along the line 3-3 of Figure 1; l

Figure 4 is a side elevational view illustrating the tool being engagedaround the upper end of a usual sucker rod section; I y v Figure 5 is asimilar viewof theV devicer en gaged about the rod section;

Figure 6 is an elevational viewo'f the device as it is used in rackingstands of sucker rodsections; and, Figure '7 is a similar Viewillustrating a coinmon diiilculty encountered in racking pipewhen mostof the present rod elevators are used.

Like characters of reference designate like parts where they appear inall of the figuresu In the accompanying two-sheet drawings, thereference numeral I indicates'as a whole a hollow substantiallycylindrical body having a Closed upper end 2 which is centrallyperforated'to receive the shank portion 3 of a suitable supportinghookThe lower end of the' shank 3 is'eX- ternally threaded to receive a nut5, and between the nethersurface of the body end 2 and the upper surfaceof the nut 5 there is provided a suitable thrustbearing 6. f One side ofthe wall or the body! is cut away or removed to provide any entryopening 'l for the end portion of a usual sucker rod section 8. Theshape of this opening may be best understood by reference to Figure 1 ofthe drawings wherein it is illustrated as being bounded by parallelvertical side edges 9 and a :substantially horizontal top edge I6. i Y

'The bodyi is 'provided at its lowerv end witha heavy door Il having asubstantially square notch l2 cut into one'side edge. The .open part ormouth'of the notch l2 coincides with the side opening of the body butthe notchis smaller in dimension than body opening 7. The notch l2 isbarely wide enough to permit the passage thereinto of thesucker rodsection 8. The upper surface'of` thev Hoor ll is counter-sunk as showntoprovide' a conical seat i3 adapted yto receive a conically taperedportion or shoulder ILS of a sucker redhead I5 whichvis integral withthe rod section. 8'; The tapered seat hi acts to center the rod withinthe bodyl when the rod is being suspended therein. Y

As a means for positively maintaining the rod section within the body lduring handling therefof;and annular' sleeve 2li is provided around 'theing movement lonigtudinally of the body. In order` to mount the sleeve20in operativefposition, the top 2V and door ll arevprovided :with

vertical aligned perforations 2| and 22, as best seen in Figure 2, andthe portion of the wall of the body I which lies between theperforations 2l and 22 is removed to permit the insertion of a guide pin23 into the perforations. The pin 23 has a tapered portion 24 adjacentits upper end, and this tapered portion is adapted to be driven into asimilarly shaped socket 25 in the top 2 of the body. The pin may beremoved by driving it upwardly with a nail or punch. As best illustratedin Figure 3 the sleeve 20 is provided with an inwardly off -set bearingsleeve portion 24 having a bore adapted to surround the pin 23 andclosely slide thereon. The inside diameter of the sleeve 20 issuiliciently great to entirely clear the outside surface of the body I,and consequently ample space is left between the two to accommodate areasonable amount. of accumulated paraii'in or other substance on theoutside of the body, without preventing free vertical movement of thesleeve 20.

In engaging the body I with the sucker rod head, the sleeve 20 is firstmanually raised to the upper end of body, as illustrated in Figure 4.After the floor or bottom I I has been hooked beneath the conicalshoulder I4 of the rod head I5, the sleeve is released and falls to theposition shown in Figures l and 5 where it prevents removal of the rod`until again manually raised. When the body I is raised in a usualmannerby movement of a cable 25 connected in the hook 4, the tapered seat I3acts to center the rod in the body.

It is common practice in oil well operation to rack sucker rod stands oftwo or more sections each upright in the well derrick side by side asthey are withdrawn from the well and are disconnected from the suckerrod string. For this purpose, spaced parallel fingers are rigidlypositioned horizontally in the upper portion of the derrick, and thesefingers each act simultaneously as a, leaning support for the upper endsof several of the rod string stands In Figure 7 is illustrated the upperends of two sucker rod stands 30 which are shown positioned side by sideand leaning against a usual horizontal finger 3| rigidly carried by ahorizontal member 32 connected to the derrick. Figure '7 furtherillustrates a third stand 33 being supported by a usual rod elevator 34.The stand 33 has been swung over against the adjacent stand 30 and isbeing set down as close as possible to the stand 3D. lIt will be notedthat the lower end of the elevator 34 .has fouled with the head of theadjacent stand 30, and in the position illustrated, the stand 33 cannotbe further lowered to a position level with those stands which have beenpreviously racked.

The above described fouling of the elevator 34 with the adjacent "standof racked sucker rod, is the rule rather than the exception when most ofthe present rod elevators are in use, and when such an occasion occurs,it becomes necessary to again raise the stand 33, swing the elevatorclear of the adjacent stand 30, lower the elevator until the lower endof the stand 33 :rests upon the derrick floor, and finally swing theelevator and stand over against the adjacent stand 30. This operationmay at first hand sound simple and unimportant, but when it isconsidered that the operation requires unnecessary time of the man whois operating the hoisting mechanism, the man on the floor who is guidingthe lower end of the stand, and the `man in the top of the derrick whois handling the upper end of the stand, it becomes apparent that theoperation is quite an expense, when extended over a long period of timeand is multiplied by thousands of pumping wells. The hoisting mechanismmust be started up each time merely for the purpose of raising the standan inch or only a fraction thereof.

In order to eliminate this fouling of the bottom of the elevator with apre-racked stand of sucker rod, I have bevelled the front edge of theoor II of my body I at each side of the notch I2. These bevelledportions are indicated by reference numerals 35. When my elevator isbeing used to rack rod stands, the stand 33 is first swung over againstthe adjacent racked stand 30, and the elevator is lowered. When thebevelled portions 35 contact the head of the stand 30, the elevator isautomatically thrust slightly outward by the bevels. The loweringmovement is therefore not stopped until the stand 33 rests upon thederrick floor, after which the upper end ofthe stand 33 is merels7pushed, by the derrick man over against the stand 30. No time is lostandthere can be no damage to the pre-racked rod stands Figure 6 illustratesthe function of the bevelled portions 35 of the elevator.

It is thought that the operation of the present device is apparent fromthe foregoing description without further explanation.

I claim:

1. A sucker rod elevator comprising: an elongated hollow body having oneopen side for receiving the enlarged end of a usual sucker rod; aclosure for the bottom end of said body having a side notch adapted toreceive the portion of said rod which lies beneath said enlargement; aconical countersunk seat on the upper surface of said closure adjacentthe notch for engaging beneath said enlargement and for centering thesame in the body when `the rod is supported thereby; an annular sleevesurrounding the body and logitudinally slidable thereon for retainingthe sucker rod in the body when at the lower end of its throw; and a,guide for the sleeve removably carried by the body.

2. A sucker rod elevator comprising: an elongated hollow body having oneopen side for receiving the enlarged end of a usual sucker rod; meansfor suspending said body by a line; a closure for the bottom end of saidbody having a side notch adapted to receive the portion of said rodwhich lies beneath said enlargement; a conical countersunk seat on theupper surface of said closure adjacent the notch for engaging beneathsaid enlargement and for centering the same in the body when the rod issupported thereby; an annular sleeve surrounding the body andlongitudinally slidable thereon for retaining the sucker rod in the bodywhen at the lower end of its throw; and a guide for the sleeve removablycarried by the body.

3. A sucker rod elevator comprising; an elongated hollow body having oneopen side for receiving the enlarged vend of a usual sucker rod section;means for suspending said body by a line; a closure for the bottom endof said body having a side notch adapted to receive the portion of saidrod which lies beneath said enlargement; the lower surface of theclosure being bevelled upwardly and outwardly at each side of the mouthof said notch to prevent the bottom of the closure from fouling witha'at horizontal surface.

4. A sucker rod elevator comprising: an elongated hollow body having oneopen side for receiving the enlarged end of a usual sucker rod section;means for suspending said body by a 1 line; a closure for the bottom endof said body having a side notch adapted to receive the portion of saidrod which lies beneath said enlargement; the lower surface of theclosure being bevelled upwardly and outwardly at each side of the mouthof said notch to prevent bottom of the closure from fouling with a flathorizontal surface; and a conical countersunk seat on the upper surfaceof said closure adjacent the notch for engaging beneath said enlargementand for centering the same in the body when the rod is supportedthereby.

5. A sucker rod elevator comprising: an elongated hollow body having oneopen side for receiving the enlarged end of a usual sucker rod section;a closure for the bottom end of said body having a side notch adapted toreceive the portion of said rod which lies beneath said enlargement, theupper surface of said closure being adapted to engage beneath saidenlargement to support the rod; an annular collar surrounding andvertically slidable upon the body, said collar when at the lower end ofits throw being adapted to coniine the enlargement to a position Withinthe body; and a guide for the sleeve removably carried by the` body.

6. A sucker rod elevator comprising: an elongated hollow body having oneopen side for receiving the enlarged end of a usual sucker section; aclosure for the bottom end of said body having a side notch adapted toreceive the portion of said rod which lies beneath said enlargement, theupper surface of said closure being adapted to engage beneath saidenlargement to support the rod; an annular collar surrounding the body;and means for mounting the collar to slide longitudinally on the body,said means restricting the collar against Contact with the periphery ofthe body at more than one radial point at one time.

'7. Organization as described in claim 6, in which the means includes: apin extending longitudinally `of the body in the plane of the wallthereof, said pin passing through a bearing sleeve carried by andoff-set inwardly from the inner surface of said collar.

8. A sucker rod elevator comprising an elongated hollow body having oneopen side for receiving the enlarged end of a usual sucker rod section;means for suspending said body by a line; a closure for the bottom endof said body having a side notch adapted to receive the portion of saidrod which lies beneath said enlargement; the lower surface of theclosure being bevelled upwardly and outwardly at each side of the mouthof said notch to prevent the bottom of the closure from fouling with aflat horizontal surface; a conical countersunk seat on the upper surfaceof said closure adjacent the notch for centering the same in the bodywhen the rod is supported thereby; an annular collar surrounding andvertically slidable upon the body; and, means for mounting the collar insaid `sliding relation to said body, said means including a pinextending longitudinally of the body in the plane of the wall thereof,and passing through a bearing sleeve carried by and off-set inwardlyfrom the inner surface of said collar.

9. Organization as described in claim 6, in which the means includes: apin extending 1ongitudinally of the body in the plane of the wallthereof; a tapered head carried by the upper end of the pin; a similarlyshaped socket in the body for receiving the head; and, in which theclosure is provided with a through perforation for receiving the lowerend of said pin whereby,

the pin may be driven upwardly out of said socket.

10. A sucker rod elevator comprising: a hollow body having one open sidefor receiving the enlarged end of a usual sucker section; a closure forthe bottom end of said body having a side notch adapted to receive theportion of said rod which lies beneath said enlargement, the uppersurface of said closure being adapted to engage beneath said enlargementto support the rod; and an arcuate member spanning said open side; andremovable guide means mounting said member to slide longitudinally alongthe body, said means being arranged to hold the member spaced from thebody along at least one radial point.

CHARLEY LOWERY.

